Wednesday, October 12, 2011

How one thing leads to another...

Two things I know about myself:

1. I am frugal. To a fault sometimes.
2. I rely more on serendipity than careful planning. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it doesn't, but then it does.

When we removed the white cabinets from the kitchen several years ago, we carefully stowed them in the falling down shed out back because I thought they might have some use in the future studio. However, little by little Ray kept pulling them out of the shed and setting them up in the garage where they have made a very nifty work and storage area in the garage. But not much was left to choose from for the studio. Well, actually one thing was left—a corner unit with a lazy susan inside. Determined not to let a perfectly good, ugly and slightly battered monster thing go to waste I decided it could be the corner support for my sewing table, so Ray and I wrestled it out of the shed, over hill and dale and into the studio. It weighs about 10,000 pounds. Once in the studio I quickly realized that, duh, it was too tall for the sewing table. I thought Ray was going to cry when I told him. He had not only muscled the darn thing into the studio, he had lain on his back, with his head inside the cabinet, cursing and grunting and reattached the doors once it was inside. So it sat there.

I began to wonder if it might work as an island work area in the center of the studio. My friend Jeri and I brainstormed it and decided putting it on casters was the way to go. I then got Ray to cut a plywood top for it and planned to pad it and cover it with canvas for a printing and/or ironing surface. The canvas I had was an inch too narrow (of course) so I went off to the fabric store where I discovered ironing board fabric by the yard.

Ta da! The finished island/table/thing.


It required only three trips to the hardware store. One to get the casters, the second to get two more casters because that corner cutout made it tippy with only four casters and the third to find shorter staples for attaching the padding and fabric to the top. I know it's sort of weird, but I think it might be pretty useful. And, look, lazy susan storage inside.

I know I shouldn't have shown all this and just let you think I had this specially built for the space.

Rigggghhht.

22 comments:

  1. and I thought frugality was a new england thing... great repurposing!

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  2. It looks great, Terry. I think you might find it to be one of the more useful furnishings in the studio.

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  3. Genius! Good old necessity, it's definately the mother of invention today! You could have a stool and tuck it in the cutout when you're not using it!

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  4. Excellent! I'm also eager to hear how Ray's green house is shaping up.

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  5. Anonymous5:59 AM

    You're a girl after my own heart. I'm sure you'll love having this cupboard/ironing station. Being able to 'wheel' it around where it's most needed is a huge plus. You've also accomplished a major 'recycle'. Gold star for you and Ray!

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  6. We did a kitchen upgrade and put hard wood in most of our main floor last year and I salvaged the carpet and the kitchen island countertop to use in my studio.

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  7. What a wonderful way to reuse that lazy susan! It's so big and you won't have to unload it to get what you need from the back!

    My only concern is with the portion of the padded top above the door that doesn't appear to be supported. If it's not, I would worry about what your areas humidity and any weight put on it would do.

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  8. It was much better to share it this way. I think it will be very useful.

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  9. I think it's a great piece! Good height, nice space to spread out for ironing and good storage! Just watch out when you're getting stuff out of the lazy susan. I have a corner shelf with some small drawers underneath and I bump my head almost every time.

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  10. What a great idea Terry

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  11. You will love it! I could not live without my roll around ironing and printing tables.

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  12. 6 castors...told ya so ;-O. (Sorry couldn't resist.)

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  13. Anonymous11:32 AM

    I think it is a great idea.

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  14. i am so happy to see this! i had to quit watching the 'flip this house' type shows because of the waste, it drove me nuts to see the things they would tear out. and thank you ray! don't forget to show us pix when you fill it.

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  15. This table/island looks so handy, and you'll love the lazy susan feature. I have one in the corner kitchen cabinet. Your studio/greenhouse is looking great.
    Martha Ginn

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  16. This looks like a very clever solution to use that piece and create a useful workspace for you. I suspect you'll end up loving this!

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  17. Love it love it. Very clever of you!
    You can buy ironing board covers by the yard? I am heading to the fabric store! Thanks for that tidbit!

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  18. Great idea but please - be careful down there when you come out from ferreting in the cupboard - that looks like a sharp corner! (I speak as one who knows from bitter experience!)

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  19. What a great salvage effort. Way to many things get thrown out these days. I salute you for persevering!

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  20. Very cool! Thanks for posting...and sharing the real story!

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